This is a picture of my grandmother
Edith Gray on her rooftop
flower garden
at her home in Roxbury,
Massachusetts, circa 1900.
She always signed her name as
"Grandmother Sunshine"
when she wrote those
wonderful letters that
I received as a child
and young adult.
My grandmother used the name of
"Edith Sunshine"
when she wrote
short stories and poetry
while growing up in Roxbury.
She also had beautiful
handwriting
now known as calligraphy.
Edith had two sisters,
Florence and Edna,
and one brother William Chester.
Her father William Gray
was a trolley conductor in
Boston.
Her mother Anna Gray
owned her own
pet bird and supply business
from the late 1880s to about 1903.
Anna boarded these birds
for customers plus had
several of her own.
Anna had her own rooftop garden.
Here she planted morning glories,
petunias and other annuals.
The Gray family
enjoyed her rooftop garden.
From the roof the family had a
good view of the city of Roxbury.
The three Gray sisters
graduated from high school which was
a great accomplishment
for young women at
that time during the late 1890s.
Their brother Chester
also graduated from
high school and then
attended the Massachusetts
Nautical Training
School in Boston.
My grandmother Edith
had passed down to my mother
her collection of old valentines.
Some of them were
beautifully handmade by my
grandmother from "scraps".
I took these precious valentines
to my Junior High in the 40s
to be displayed in the
school's hallway display case
for all to see.
My grandmother used to send
my mother several old
penny postcards
with pretty pictures
of flowers and birds.
The three sisters used to correspond
with each other through
these penny postcards.
My great aunt Edna and my
grandmother Edith
had a large collection of them.
Edna had thousands of which
are now in the care of my great aunt
Florence's grandson, my third cousin.
I like to collect these old postcards
myself and have found
many of them in antique stores.
This is a postcard my
grandmother sent to my
mother for her birthday.
My grandmother Edith Gray
passed down to me and my mother
the art of letter-writing,the love of
birding, cats and gardening.
Besides these I love all
things Victorian
as my grandmother was born
in that time and instilled
in my mother and me her
learned values
from her childhood
while growing up in Roxbury.
Thank you for visiting
my memory page of my
Grandmother Sunshine.
You may also visit my Cat, Santa,
Valentines, Penny Postcards,
Flower Story pages and Gardening pages
by clicking on the links below.
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